Thursday, December 17, 2015

Minack and other tales

Holy cow! I am sorry. I had papers and then homework. Sorry, for those who have been waiting to read this it is so old now. So much has happened since this, but I can't include it all in one post because it would be huge.

So here is Mid semester break.

I have travel to two places that have gained little pieces of my heart, but they couldn't have more differences. By all account one might think someone who loves the serene, quiet seaside of Penzance would not like the lively, chaotic streets of Dublin, and yet they both have latched themselves on to my memory, and it is doubtful that they will ever let go.

Upon arriving in Penzance I quickly found myself lost in a world that lacked street with a GPS that wasn't as accurate at pinpointing my location as I would like, but I soon found my bearings and was off exploring a city alone for the first time in my life. I discovered as I rounded a corner that I had arrived to Penzance at high tide. As  a result the cobblestone road that my GPS wished me to take was covered in water, and the sidewalk, which was a few feet above the road, had waves lapping over it eager to lick at my shoes. So with some good and some bad timing I managed to get across with relatively dry shoes. I passed by this same area later on at low tide where that water was at least a twenty feet away from the road that I was meant to cross. There is something romantic (in the older definition of the word) about a life controlled by the tides.


I eventually found the B and B that I was meant to stay at. Unfortunately, I was duped by the use of army time here in the UK and had told the owner that I would be arriving at five. (My train got in around 15:00 and I did bad math.) As a result he was not at the B and B and I was left with a few hours to kill. Though I was tired it wasn't too daunting of a time with the sea in such close view. Right across the street to be exact, so I went along the walk and sat down listening to the water crash against the wall and and watching the white waves splash ten feet above the sidewalk. I was drinking in Penzance jotting down pretty descriptions of everything around me into my journal.




I sat there for quite a long time realizing that my jacket was no match for the cold wind blowing off the sea. When the cold got to be too much and the time was close to five I went back to the B and B hoping that they were back. Unfortunately they weren't, but there were some keys in an envelope for 'Ashley' and I was very tempted to commandeer them. So by this time I was cold really cold and tired and just wanted to be somewhere warm, so I went in search of food. However it seemed that most restaurants were closed, until I found the Pirate's Cove. This was actually a place I wanted to go because pirates. It turned out not to be as excited as I expected with very sparse piratey decorations, but I was cold and tired and past being picky. So I order fish and chips and sat down hoping that my phone wouldn't die in case the B and B owner was still absent and I would have to call him.

The food was good, but evens it's warmth took me a while to thaw out. When I was finished it took me a while to gather up the energy to go back out in the cold and make the trek back to the B and B. I was incredibly happy when the front door was open and I was finally settled into my room.

After breakfast the next day I started my hour and a half trek to St. Michael's Mount which is an island with a castle that at high tide can only be accessed by boat. I walked the first half there on the roads which was extremely obnoxious because I could see the path that walked went along the coast, but I had no idea how to get to it. After crossing some busy roads I finally found a bridge that would take me to the path. The walk was fantastic, constantly having the water in view, and always having St. Michael in sight, but never seeming to get closer.

When I finally got there I was told I only had an hour to search around. It turned out to be plenty of time to look around. It was a nice little island with a fun castle. It was worth seeing, but the walk there was more of an adventure. There is nothing like having the ocean constantly at your side.










































I found my foot prints on the way back. It was kind of cool seeing physical evidence of me walking through Penzance.








The next day was by far my favorite part of this trip. This was the day that I visited the Minack Theatre. This lovely theatre is located in a little town called Porthcurno. The theatre is built into the cliff side and it's back drop is the sea. I have never seen such a gorgeous theatre. I spent hours here just taking it all in and I loved every second of it. I just desperately want to stand on the stage and belt out a song.


This has become a theatre that I have to see a play in at some point in my life. I is just beautiful and lovely and all the words that are synonyms to those.


The seats had the plays that had been performed written on them and they gorgeously chaotic in their placement. I will come back here.

Then a week after Penzance I went to Dublin for a study trip for Irish Literature. How amazing that I could just hop on a plane for an hour and land in a different country for a study trip! I loved this city. I would be back in a heartbeat. We went to pubs with loud music and toured the city. I discovered that I have an interest in the Easter Rising of 1916. I bought two books that dealt with it.

I was such I lively city. There was always something going on and there was energy everywhere It was so much fun hanging out with the girls in my class.

These short amount of words don't do it justice, and unfortunately I was having too much fun to remember to take pictures.

Well there is that post. Slightly lopsided in it's writing, but I hope you enjoyed it. So much as happened since then. I will be going home it two days, but I will try to do catch up once I get home. There are two things that I really was to touch on, but I just don't have the time before I go home to write them. I just got caught up with everything that was happening here.

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